Central Carolina Technical College’s Kershaw County Campus expansion groundbreaking scheduled for January 2016

Camden, S.C. – Central Carolina Technical College’s Kershaw County Campus at the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 521 is breaking ground in January 2016 on its first expansion since originally opening in 2010 as an extension of the Kershaw County Downtown Campus.

Twenty-eight percent of Kershaw County’s 2015 high school graduates are presently registered at CCTC, nearly doubling last year’s 15 percent. CCTC President Tim Hardee believes, “Programs such as Central Carolina Scholars are a contributing factor in enrollment growth for Kershaw County. It is the success of such programs that has led us to expand our campus to accommodate the growing numbers of students.”

The Central Carolina Scholars program was introduced in 2011 to students from Clarendon, Kershaw and Lee counties who were scheduled to graduate in 2015. Eligible recipients receive free tuition for the duration of any one of CCTC’s programs of study up to two years (six consecutive semesters). Eligible recipients attended their target high school as a freshman in 2011, graduated on time in 2015, passed required college-level testing, graduated with a minimum GPA of 2.0 and completed a 2015-2016 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

This fall, CCTC is pleased with the outstanding success of the program. “We put these programs in place to allow high school seniors to utilize local, affordable education and job training to help them get a jumpstart on their career path,” Hardee says, “We are excited to expand our Kershaw County campus to offer the highest quality academics and facilities to our current and future students. The bottom line is we want our students to succeed and we are willing to provide them with the tools to do so.”

“The Central Carolina Scholars program allows many of our students to attend college who might not otherwise be able to,” said Kershaw County School District Superintendent Frank Morgan. “We are very grateful to Central Carolina for making this program available so that our students have an opportunity to continue their learning. This is truly a win-win situation for our community.”

Kershaw County Council Chairman Julian Burns agrees, “Businesses in Kershaw County know we are committed to a trained and ready workforce. Our citizens know we are committed to a lifetime of meaningful work. This great county made a commitment to Central Carolina Technical College years ago, that together we would strive to produce the trained and ready workforce that our local industries need, if they are to succeed in the global economy. This expansion will be the next step in that process. The dramatic growth in the student population in Kershaw County that is served by Central Carolina Technical College will be well served by this new building and the exciting programs that will be offered here. Working together as partners, this campus expansion proves that Kershaw County is indeed “Open for Business.”